I live in a small town in North-Central Indiana, and have been having what most would consider paranormal experiences for as long as I can remember. As a child, I grew up in an old Victorian house that was one of the first buildings built in that part of town. The house was built in 1900, I believe.

I can remember going to bed at night and hearing footsteps on the stairs and landing outside my room. I would also hear a man's voice calling my name when I was alone, and my Mother would never believe me. When I was about 8, my best friend came over to spend the night, and as we were going to sleep my closet light shut off. She shook me and was freaked out, but this happened every night, so I just turned it back on and went back to bed. When it happened the second time, and we heard a laugh come from inside the closet, I yelled at him to stop, and the light came back on. He was a playful ghost, but he seemed to just want someone to acknowledge him and talk to him from time-to-time. I never knew who he was in life or what his name was, but he was a part of my everyday life in that house and seemed to be protective of me.

When I was 16, I became pregnant with my oldest daughter and her father and I had a rocky relationship. One night we got into a huge fight and I was crying as my boyfriend left the room to use the bathroom across from my bedroom. As soon as he left the room I felt the whole atmosphere change to one of comfort from the heavy tension of a few minutes before. I knew the male spirit was there and that he was trying to comfort me. I felt the side of the bed sink down as if someone had sat down, and what felt like a hand on my shoulder. I told the spirit I was okay and to go away because my boyfriend would be back any minute and did not like the fact that a male spirit was hanging around me. As I heard my boyfriend coming back to the room, the bed moved back into place as if nothing was there and I felt a breeze head for the open bedroom door. As my boyfriend reached it, the door slammed in his face and locked. This door is an antique with a skeleton key lock, which we have never had keys for. This scared me as I had never had this kind of experience with my "ghost friend," he had always been a friendly presence in the house.

My boyfriend was mad and thought I slammed the door in his face and was even madder when he realized that it was locked. I was still sitting on the bed 10-feet from the door with my mouth open in disbelief. My boyfriend started pounding on the door and calling me names, and out of the middle of the bedroom I saw a dark-colored mass headed for the door. I couldn't believe my eyes, because this is the first time I had ever seen the spirit in my house manifest. I told my boyfriend to get away from the door and stop yelling, because he was making "my friend," as I called the spirit, upset. Now my boyfriend had never had any experiences in the almost 8 months he lived in that house, but that was about to change. He kept pounding on the door and told me he didn't believe in "my ghost," and he wasn't scared.

The next thing I knew there was a gust of air, and I saw the dark mass go through the door. I heard my boyfriend screaming and the sounds of a struggle out on the landing. I jumped up and struggled with the door, but it wouldn't open, it was still locked. My boyfriend started yelling for help and begging to be let go. I yelled for the spirit to open the door and not to harm my boyfriend, and told him that I would never forgive him or speak to him again. The door knob suddenly turned in my hand and I opened the door just in time to see my boyfriend's butt touch the edge of the banister as his feet touched the floor of the landing. We both heard the sound of heavy footsteps on the stairs going down to the first floor. My boyfriend was shaking and started to cry and beg for my forgiveness. I looked at him and told him never to challenge the ghost or talk to me like that ever again.

It took him two weeks to tell me what happened on the other side of that door, and after that he wouldn't be in the house without me. He told me that something came through the door and grabbed him by the shirt and lifted his feet off the ground. He said it shook him and he heard a male voice tell him to say he was sorry. He said he told the voice, "No, put me down first." Whatever had a hold of him lifted him higher and was holding him over the banister of the stairwell. He told me that the thing was shaking him like a ragdoll and said, "I'll make you sorry if you hurt her again." We weren't together much longer after that, but it wasn't the spirits fault. When my daughter was born in September of 1994, I would always see her looking at someone over her bassinet, would hear humming at night by her crib, and see the outline of a person standing there.

My ghost became my daughter's ghost. I would hear her giggle and she would point at something that I couldn't see. I moved out of this house when I was 19 and my daughter was 3. I married my first husband and we got our own home. Whenever I would visit I would hear his voice say hello, and he would play with my daughter. My Mother lived in this house until March of 2007 and said that she never had any experiences in the house, but she never was a believer in spirits like me.

My oldest child is now 14, and she has admitted to me that she has seen spirits in our current home, and has had dreams that come true. When I had my palms read at 21 I was also told I would have two girls and one boy, and be married two times. I am now on marriage number two, to a wonderful man and have two daughters and a son. I still feel spirits and know when things will happen, but have made peace with it.